Healthy Homemade Halloween Goodies

[Guest guest]

Linda, these are the things I am making to bring to

the party and/or for Halloween itself.

 

A friend of mine has a diabetic child and doesn't

want him to miss out on the whole trick-or-treating

thing in his neighborhood. So what she does is take

him trick-or-treating, then gives him a nickel or so

for each piece of candy he got ... so she buys the

candy from him (and pitches it, I assume) then takes

him to the store to buy something he wants, like a toy

or book he's been wanting.

 

I was thrilled to hear her story because it gave me

an idea for this Halloween with my children. I will

be including many of the following goodies and fill a

plastic pumpkin with them (some wrapped in Halloween

goodie bags from the party store to make it look fun),

as well as boxed raisins, natural fruit leather, mini

bags of pretzels, juice boxes, cocoa packets,

Halloween stickers and erasers, dried fruit, cereal

bars. I will feed the kids a big meal before we leave

for trick-or-treat and will put a few vegan candies in

their bags (without their knowing). After

trick-or-treat, I will say they may eat a few things

(acting excited about the vegan candies, but living

through it if they pick something else). Then I will

tell them that I will trade pumpkins with them (for

mine with the healthy goodies). For my daughter that

will be fine -- she's 2. For my 6-year-old son, I

will also offer to " buy " his candy from him and take

him to get a Rescue Hero he's been wanting. Its a lot

of trouble and a little sneaky, but I'm not one for

thinking my small children should be free to make

their own food choices yet.

 

Anyway, ....

 

YUMMY ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1/2T canola oil, 1 1/2

T brown sugar (I use Sucanat), 1/4t cardamom, 1/4t

allspice, 1/8t sea salt. Slice a whole vanilla bean

and scrape seeds into mixture. Add 3C pumpkin seeds

and stir to coat. Spread on rimmed baking sheet and

bake 15 min. until golden brown and aromatic, stirring

halfway through. Remove from oven and cool. (note: my

spices burned before my seeds were cooked enough, so

you might want to precook the seeds first, then warm

them up after coating them)

 

CHEEZY CRACKERS: (You can cut these with Halloween

cookie cutters)

Mix 1C unbleached white flour, 1C ww pastry flour,

2t baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1/2t garlic poweder, 1t

chili poweder, 1/2C nutritional yeast flakes. Then

add 3T oil and 2/3C soymilk. Knead into a smooth

ball. Preheat oven to 425, and oil 2 cookie sheets.

Divide dough in half, roll out each ball into a thing

layer on cookie sheet. Sprinkle top with sesame seeds

if desired. Cut into shapes. Bake 7-10 min. to

golden brown. (Note: I bought a set of mini animal

cookie cutters from Party City and make animal

crackers with this recipe =)

 

FRESH APPLE CUPCAKES:

Mix 1C veg oil, 1 1/2C honey, 3C apples peeled &

chopped, 1t vanilla, 1C chopped nuts. Sift 3C half

white, half wheat flour, 1t baking soda, 1t salt. Mix

all together. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle

cinnamon sugar on top and cover each with a sliced

apple ring if desired. Bake at 350 for 45 min. to

golden and top springs back when pushed down slightly.

 

YUMMY APPLES: (No color or sugar-laden caramel!)

Remove stem from an apple. Press a popsicle stick

halfway into one end of apple. Dip apple into bowl of

warm honey or brown rice syrup, and roll in ground

graham crackers or " oreo " -type cookies, granola, or

chopped nuts. Refridgerate for an hour.

 

YUMMY FRUIT:

Buy assorted dried fruit from natural food store.

Melt chocolate and dip half of fruit piece into

chocolate. Let harden on wax paper of toothpick stuck

into something (so chocolate won't smear). Great

treat, especially if you put a bunch of these in a

Halloween treat bag from party store, and tie with

orange and black curly ribbon! (Note: If you are

vegan, I have found -- after a long and agonizing

search -- vegan chocolate bars you can melt and use

whenever you need chocolate, or eat the bar of course!

Lindt swiss bittersweet chocolate bar, which comes in

a white wrapper I buy from Albertsons. This is the

only Lindt bar that is vegan! Also, my health food

store has a line of specifically vegan chocolate bars

which are scrumptious called Tropical Source.)

 

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

(This is my all-time fav. cookie recipe! It requires

no egg or milk, or their substitutes even, and is very

moldable for any cookie cutter shapes you want to

make! Plus, no sugar! I haven't found vegan

chocolate chips -- anyone know any? But I found vegan

carob chips and use those instead)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix 2C ww pastry flour and

1/2t sea salt. Set aside. Blend 1 1/8C peanut

butter, 2/3C maple syrup, 1/4C canola oil, and 1T

vanilla in food processor until smooth. Pour wet

ingredients into flour/salt mix. Add chocolate chips

and stir together. Shape however you want. Place

cookies on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 15 min.

Remove from oven and cool.

 

Hope some of these are useful! =)

 

Warmest Wishes,

Tanya (mommy to Justin -6, and Kailey -2)

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

> You asked about vegan chocolate chips, so I just wanted to let you know that

> Tropical Source makes some. I think there's another company that makes

> them too, but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

> Also, I'm wondering something about the apple cupcake recipe. Do you think

> it would turn out OK to use maple syrup in place of the honey? I choose

>

 

The other choc. chips that are vegan are Sunspire.

I'm vegan too. I use rice syrup instead of honey. The consistancy is the

same.

Peace,

Laura

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

You asked about vegan chocolate chips, so I just wanted to let you know that

Tropical Source makes some. I think there's another company that makes them

too, but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

Also, I'm wondering something about the apple cupcake recipe. Do you think it

would turn out OK to use maple syrup in place of the honey? I choose not to use

honey because it's not considered vegan (although some people don't have a

problem with it, so I'm not judging or anything.) I'm just wondering

Maria

Tanya <telnjml wrote:

Linda, these are the things I am making to bring to

the party and/or for Halloween itself.

 

A friend of mine has a diabetic child and doesn't

want him to miss out on the whole trick-or-treating

thing in his neighborhood. So what she does is take

him trick-or-treating, then gives him a nickel or so

for each piece of candy he got ... so she buys the

candy from him (and pitches it, I assume) then takes

him to the store to buy something he wants, like a toy

or book he's been wanting.

 

I was thrilled to hear her story because it gave me

an idea for this Halloween with my children. I will

be including many of the following goodies and fill a

plastic pumpkin with them (some wrapped in Halloween

goodie bags from the party store to make it look fun),

as well as boxed raisins, natural fruit leather, mini

bags of pretzels, juice boxes, cocoa packets,

Halloween stickers and erasers, dried fruit, cereal

bars. I will feed the kids a big meal before we leave

for trick-or-treat and will put a few vegan candies in

their bags (without their knowing). After

trick-or-treat, I will say they may eat a few things

(acting excited about the vegan candies, but living

through it if they pick something else). Then I will

tell them that I will trade pumpkins with them (for

mine with the healthy goodies). For my daughter that

will be fine -- she's 2. For my 6-year-old son, I

will also offer to " buy " his candy from him and take

him to get a Rescue Hero he's been wanting. Its a lot

of trouble and a little sneaky, but I'm not one for

thinking my small children should be free to make

their own food choices yet.

 

Anyway, ....

 

YUMMY ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1/2T canola oil, 1 1/2

T brown sugar (I use Sucanat), 1/4t cardamom, 1/4t

allspice, 1/8t sea salt. Slice a whole vanilla bean

and scrape seeds into mixture. Add 3C pumpkin seeds

and stir to coat. Spread on rimmed baking sheet and

bake 15 min. until golden brown and aromatic, stirring

halfway through. Remove from oven and cool. (note: my

spices burned before my seeds were cooked enough, so

you might want to precook the seeds first, then warm

them up after coating them)

 

CHEEZY CRACKERS: (You can cut these with Halloween

cookie cutters)

Mix 1C unbleached white flour, 1C ww pastry flour,

2t baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1/2t garlic poweder, 1t

chili poweder, 1/2C nutritional yeast flakes. Then

add 3T oil and 2/3C soymilk. Knead into a smooth

ball. Preheat oven to 425, and oil 2 cookie sheets.

Divide dough in half, roll out each ball into a thing

layer on cookie sheet. Sprinkle top with sesame seeds

if desired. Cut into shapes. Bake 7-10 min. to

golden brown. (Note: I bought a set of mini animal

cookie cutters from Party City and make animal

crackers with this recipe =)

 

FRESH APPLE CUPCAKES:

Mix 1C veg oil, 1 1/2C honey, 3C apples peeled &

chopped, 1t vanilla, 1C chopped nuts. Sift 3C half

white, half wheat flour, 1t baking soda, 1t salt. Mix

all together. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle

cinnamon sugar on top and cover each with a sliced

apple ring if desired. Bake at 350 for 45 min. to

golden and top springs back when pushed down slightly.

 

YUMMY APPLES: (No color or sugar-laden caramel!)

Remove stem from an apple. Press a popsicle stick

halfway into one end of apple. Dip apple into bowl of

warm honey or brown rice syrup, and roll in ground

graham crackers or " oreo " -type cookies, granola, or

chopped nuts. Refridgerate for an hour.

 

YUMMY FRUIT:

Buy assorted dried fruit from natural food store.

Melt chocolate and dip half of fruit piece into

chocolate. Let harden on wax paper of toothpick stuck

into something (so chocolate won't smear). Great

treat, especially if you put a bunch of these in a

Halloween treat bag from party store, and tie with

orange and black curly ribbon! (Note: If you are

vegan, I have found -- after a long and agonizing

search -- vegan chocolate bars you can melt and use

whenever you need chocolate, or eat the bar of course!

Lindt swiss bittersweet chocolate bar, which comes in

a white wrapper I buy from Albertsons. This is the

only Lindt bar that is vegan! Also, my health food

store has a line of specifically vegan chocolate bars

which are scrumptious called Tropical Source.)

 

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

(This is my all-time fav. cookie recipe! It requires

no egg or milk, or their substitutes even, and is very

moldable for any cookie cutter shapes you want to

make! Plus, no sugar! I haven't found vegan

chocolate chips -- anyone know any? But I found vegan

carob chips and use those instead)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix 2C ww pastry flour and

1/2t sea salt. Set aside. Blend 1 1/8C peanut

butter, 2/3C maple syrup, 1/4C canola oil, and 1T

vanilla in food processor until smooth. Pour wet

ingredients into flour/salt mix. Add chocolate chips

and stir together. Shape however you want. Place

cookies on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 15 min.

Remove from oven and cool.

 

Hope some of these are useful! =)

 

Warmest Wishes,

Tanya (mommy to Justin -6, and Kailey -2)

 

 

 

NEW from GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month.

http://geocities./ps/info1

 

 

 

For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at

http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to

http://www.vrg.org/family.